Tag Archives: competition

Last week a publisher informed me that a story I had submitted for their next anthology is not good enough to be included.
Oh, they were much more tactful, but the bottom line is just that – the story is not good enough.

And re-reading it, I must agree.
I could make a lot of excuses – I rushed the job because of the deadline, it was my first English-language story in almost a decade, the word-limit was very tight, I had no time for availing me of my indispensible proof-reader and sounding board, or call on beta-readers.
But that would just be making excuses.

I’m much more interested, at the moment, in revising and rewriting the story as much as possible, without time or word constraints, and then try my luck again.
What’s more, I like the two main characters, and I’d love to do at least two more stories featuring them.
And anyway, submitting that story, for all its weaknesses, was absolutely indispensible – it was necessary to overcome the stagefright one feels facing a new market, a new public, a new world.

Which leads me to the interesting part – the fact that my first English submission bounced back caused some parties to get into told-you-so mode. Continue reading →